Tuesday, November 03, 2009

My Bread by Jim Lahey

I was unable to resist.

I have been a big fan of Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread recipe ever since Mark Bittman wrote about it in November, 2006.

I can't believe it has been almost 3 years. In that time I've become a baker. I have baked hundreds of loaves of this bread my way. I feel as if Jim Lahey is my bread mentor so it seemed only fair that I should buy his book. Lahey started out as a conventional artist but he became a bread artist. His story is explored in the beginning chapters of the book. It is very inspirational.

I bake a half-size loaf using a starter. I have made my own starter (and lost it) so many times that I can't remember. I end up not baking over the summer and either I'm not patient enough or unsure about it's qualities that I end up starting over. I currently have a starter that Linda made using Nancy Silverton's protocol with organic grapes.

My real quest is to figure out how to make Nancy Silverton's whole grain bread no-knead. That is why I bought Jim Lahey's book. Autumn is the perfect time to begin a bread quest. I spent almost all of yesterday reading his book and creating my own recipes. Let the testing begin.